It's on! Day 1 and 2...
Long flight... Our country is big indeed... ~6 hours in a plane... now I get to drive it back!
It's just not going to be on a straight line!
Interesting first day. So we get to the 40, and it was there... and that felt good! Part of me had gone through nightmare scenarios of the 40 not being there... for some reason or another... it was there!
The ride to the 40? Not so good. Chris, from Bellevue, was an interesting driver to say the least. For some reason he kept pressing the accelerator every two seconds, creating a rocking motion, which a baby may have enjoyed it... not us. Can you imagine? Vroom... 2 seconds... Vroom... 2 seconds... Vroom again... for 40 minutes! Tough ride from SeaTac to Ballard (North of Seattle).
So we get there, and again, the 40 was there (what a great sight!), and Chris, from Bellevue, asks where he should drop me? And I say, right here, tat's my car right there, the blue one! He looks past mine and says, oh that one (to a newish car a little farther away) and I say "no this one right here!"... "oh" he says, "OK". And for whatever reason I decide to tell him that I was driving it back to Boston.
Chris: To Boston?!
Me: Yes...
Chris: To the East Coast???
Me: Yes, to Boston...
Chris: You're not going to make it... (in a very nonchalant tone)
Me: What?
Chris: You're not going to make it Buddy! Who are you, Magellan?
I had to smile at that
... Magellan. What can you say? Maybe it is a crazy thing to do in a ~40 year old car.
Did I say my wife Millie threw up right after she got out of the taxi? Well she did. She told me afterwards... the rocking motion got to her!
So, I pay the $60 cab ride, pay the $35 storage fee, and we get to packing the 40... and man... this is going to be tough! In between tools, and parts spares, and camping gear and cooler... and clothes... This thing is packed!!! Just about zero open space. We have about a 2' x 2' space open, side-to-side and front-to-back. That's it. Not sure there's much we can do now. It's all needed! Or maybe not... we'll see. Oh well, things will be tight during the trip. After filling up the three jerry cans in the back, the 40 is sitting down a little, maybe an inch or two? Must be more careful in the twisties now...
By the way, see the REI bag in the floor? What an awesome store they have here in Seattle. Stunning... architecturally speaking truly awesome. An integrated waterfall as part of the Store!
So anyway, we get in the 40... cranks up right away. Oh that felt good! And then I look out the windshield... and what the hell is that! I figured cars would get dirty on car haulers... but this is not dirt, this is "dirty dirt!". It's a mix of dirt and exhaust fumes, making it sort of black / grayish dirt. I had to wash it last night (by hand of course... with all of the "peripherals"
... I can't take this thing through the car wash). This dirty dirt was not easy to wash off... it may take 3-4 washes before all of it comes off!
And we take off towards Bellevue, less than 10 miles East of Seattle, where we were going to stay the first night... to get supplies, fuel. Unpack and then tighten things again, and those 10 miles... jeez! We like to complain about traffic in Boston... and it is bad, but I think Seattle's may be worse! Maybe it's because it was Friday... I don't know. It took us almost an hour to get there!
Once we finally get going up in speed, my 40, which runs as nice and smooth as a 38 year-old car can run imho... which has never made any noises other than the normal creaks these cars have... starts rattling big time!
This can't be! Not on hour one!!! NOOO!!! This noise comes from underneath... near the driveshaft... a u-joint going bad??? My wife and I look at each other, and I slow down and start pulling to the side. Noise goes away. I get back on the lane and accelerate (good power... that's good), and the noise comes back. We're just a few minutes away, seeing the temperature was good, and power was good, I pressed on.
Now, this was a bit loud, like the sound of fingers snapping against wood, so I am looking for something hanging off in the vicinity of the driveshaft. Or for something to be a bit loose. Everything looks tight... feels tight. Nothing hanging off. Except for ~3-inches of black tape hanging off the driveshaft. Could that be? No... that wouldn't make that noise. The tape was there to temporarily secure the cruise control magnets to the driveshaft... forgot to take it off. Anyway, I cut it off, just in case, and headed out again later that night... all fingers and toes crossed off. And guess what... it was the tape!!! The noise went away!
I guess the combination of just about zero insulation, with the tape hitting a metal hanger, and a heightened sense of awareness all combined to make this a bigger deal in my mind than it was. "Emergency #1" avoided...
The culprit...
So off to REI, and the car wash, and Seattle we go. And Seattle is, a truly spectacular city! Flowers and water everywhere, clean, cool ferries, character... I was impressed. I visited Seattle once, 8 years ago, but did not remember it looking this way. Bellevue itself would be a major city on its own in many other places... very, very nice.
Now, about those hills... I didn't get the memo about hills in Seattle! So here I'm driving a heavily loaded 40, in flat out bumper-to-bumper traffic in downtown Seattle and the darn GPS takes me up these hills... not sure they are any shallower than those in San Francisco! A bit stressful it was... it's been a while since I've had to recruit the help of the e-brake off the green light! Not fun! But Seattle itself? Quite nice...
Day 2 is today... still in the afternoon... and we find ourselves 150 miles away from Seattle. Southwest of Seattle! You're going the wrong way!!!
Want to visit Olympic National Park... that comes tomorrow. Staying in Westport WA tonight. We got some beach access in Grayland and took the opportunity to drive it a little in the Pacific sand... don't worry, I did it slowly to avoid sand splahing up and did not get it in the water! That did not prevent Millie from getting all excited about getting stuck in the sand. Ha! The 40, loaded as it is, drove into and out of 10-inch ruts with ease...
Tech Question: Early today (at the start of the day) the amp gauge pegged up. I don't remember seeing it pegged up before... gradually coming down over 30 minutes or so to normal range. What could be going on here? Something to worry about and check into without delay? Electrical trouble-shooting is not my forte... any help would be appreciated.
Looping back in soon!!!
Hector & Millie
